Benelux Part One: Luxembourg---A Tiny but Sneakily Charming Country

As mentioned by last week's guest author there was a slight disruption in the normal publication of the blog. The reason for this disruption? Yet, another European trip. I am so fortunate to not only have the opportunity to so easily travel this year but also to have found someone who enjoys travelling as much (and as frequently) as I do. With a slight break between the completion of lectures and the beginning of exams/deadline madness, it was decided a spring break trip was in order. Never ones to be outdone it was to be our largest and most complex trip, three countries in one week. Using past experience two days away provides a large number of stories and an even greater number of pictures (Evidenced by Richard's blog post). It can only be imagined how much seven days away provides. It is for this reason that there will be not one, not even two but three posts devoted to this trip. Each country has been deemed worthy of it's own post complete with stories and pictures.

As travel addicts Richard and I have a strong affection, or perhaps I should say compulsive attachment to, the Ryanair website. Between the two of us we probably check the airline's website once a day. Frequently sending the other messages reading simply "Brussels, the 21st, £14, look at it." And, it was a message like this on an evening in February that began the Benelux odyssey. Five hours and one delivered pizza later a skeleton of this epic trip was in place. The cheap flight from Edinburgh to Charleroi (Remember, Ryanair doesn't get you all the way there, just close!) would be purchased. A bus would then be taken not to Brussels but to Luxembourg city for an evening and a day in one of the World's smallest countries. A rail pass was to be purchased for three days of travel within the Benelux countries. The first of these travel days would be used to travel from Luxembourg to Brussels where a hotel would be booked for three nights. A car was to be rented in which, on the first day in Brussels, we would traverse the Flanders countryside making a WWI pilgrimage. A full day would then be spent in Brussels followed by another train trip to Brugge. A hotel was to be booked in Brugge and followed by another train trip to visit the Netherlands cities of the Hague and Leiden. And, finally a hotel was to be booked for two nights in Amsterdam. Confused and overwhelmed? Trust me, we were too. After a few weeks of bookings, budgeting, scheduling, mapping, researching and budding anticipation the trip was finally in order.

On Wednesday, the 21st, we were scheduled to fly out of Edinburgh. On Tuesday, the 20th I had a presentation and on the 21st an essay due. So, needless to say, the packing and printing of all booking information was saved until the very last minute. It is at this point in the story I should provide a bit of characterization for my travelling counterpart. Richard is a planner. Actually, I don't think planner is a strong enough word. He is a scheduling mastermind. The man uses more highlighters, file folders, time tables and calendars than any person I have met in my life. In fact, I believe he gets more satisfaction from the creation and  success of the planning of the trip than the actual trip itself. Therefore, you are correct in your assumption that he was slightly appalled with my last minute dash into the flat and throwing of a few sweaters into a suitcase while eating lunch at the same time. However, even with his exacting standards of promptness I was on time (I may not have highlighted timetables but I detest being late, schedule mastermind and I get along well). Not to ruin this three-fold tale but all of our bookings, train tickets and reservations were successful, we did not get lost and we were on time to everything. Much of this success is owed to the scheduling mastermind and I am lucky that his intense attention to scheduling detail and navigation precision are indeed a great part of his charm. Having said this, I can now openly mock the intensity of the "schedule" throughout the narration of the trip.

Fortunately, there is little to report of the train ride to and the flight out of Edinburgh. After touchdown in Charleroi, Richard and I briefly parted ways so that he could breeze through the customs line with his red passport while I was questioned by a slightly intimidating Belgian man. Upon being cleared by customs I made a quick restroom break while Richard patiently waited for our bags. I can assure everyone that I was gone less than three minutes. However, upon my reemergence I was greeted by scheduling mastermind bag in hand and eyes focused steadily on his watch (set ten minutes early of course). How did that even happen?! To make up for my bathroom break we made impressively quick time to the bus and took our seats 15 minutes early.A long bus ride took us through a bit of the Belgian countryside. The flat and straight highway passages were reminiscent of Kansas' interstates and the three hour ride passed smoothly and quietly. Quiet aside from slight whimpers of hunger seeing that dinner hadn't quite established a place in the "schedule."

We disembarked in Luxemborg city a little after midnight. The central station building where the bus stopped was impressive and the city felt comfortable, safe and charming even in the early hours of morning. Our plan of action was to walk to our hotel, All Seasons. Throughout our entire stay I refused to call our hotel the All Seasons. Rather, Richard and I impressively stayed at the Four Seasons (Well, that technically is All the Seaons, correct?). Besides, we were staying in the richest country in the World, only the best would do. This argument was met with the fact that Luxembourg technically has the highest GDP per capita in the World meaning that it isn't neccessairly THE richest country in the entire World. As our walk to the Four Seasons continued the streets became slightly less comfortable, safe and charming. As we wheeled our bag past a strip club I could see the worry creep over Richard's face, not quite what he expected from the richest count...highest GDP per capita country in the World. While the surroundings did leave a bit to be desired I had hope for the Four Seasons. Fortunately, our reservation was intact and the worry from Richard's brow was slowly melting away as we journeyed to our room. The opening of the door was met with great resistance and I was worried that perhaps we had been given the wrong key or told the wrong room. It was neither of these problems, rather what was making the door so hard to open was a bed. The bed was literally centimeters from the door. After squeezing through the door and crawling over the bed to the few inches of floor space I helped wrestle in the suitcase and finally Richard. Once safely inside the door was slammed shut and the bed pressed back against it. As we sat down on the bed, as there was literally no other places to sit in the room, the quaint sounds of Luxembourg gently filled our modest room. It was this gentle hum (raging choas) that was the "Friends and Family" nightclub below.

Thanks to Friends and Family the night's sleep was a bit rough and having not had dinner the evening before, breakfast was much anticipated. With Herculean effort we managed to claw our way out of tiny room and take part in the Four Season's breakfast. While Richard planned I took part in some active listening being thrilled to once again be surrounded by French. And, once again regretting having only taken one year of the language in school. After breakfast we were more than ready to get out and explore the city and discover all that Luxembourg had to offer.

Leaving the Four Seasons we figured it was best to simply wander to the city's centre and take in the various sights along the way.

Navigation Break

It should be noted that hair straightening did not fit into the master schedule!

Luxembourg was very charming, especially when we reached the city centre. After wandering through the narrow, cobblestoned alleyways we visited the Luxembourg City History Museum. I liked this museum instantly seeing as I am under 26 I wasn't charged an admission fee. The museum was tucked away on a quiet, back street of the city and we were the museum's only visitors. It was during our visit to the museum that we learned a few valuable lessons regarding Luxembourg and its history. We learned why the fox is one of the city's icons, we learned the genealogy of the royal family, we learned the meaning behind the country's flag and most importantly, we learned that the Luxembourgers are incredibly efficient and sneaky. Richard documented our museum trip through photography. He dutifully snapped a number of pictures of the museum. While in the process of taking a picture on the second floor out of nowhere one of the museum guards rushed into the room. Breathless he greeted us with a pleasant "Bonjour" before telling Richard that pictures were strictly prohibited on these premises. I am fairly certain this diligent guard saw, through the glass panneling of the elevator, Richard take a picture and promptly scampered up two floors to prohibit such an action.The remainder of our time in the museum was spent pondering where this man came from exactly and how he managed to so quietly and quickly sneak up on both of us. We are either terribly unobservant and are easily taken advantage of or Luxembourgers are terribly sneaky and impressive. For selfish reasons, I am hoping for the second. Please enjoy a few illegal photos.

After committing a crime a drink was in order. Finding ourselves back in city centre we were suddenly surrounded by the sounds of trumpets, horns, oboes, clarinets and flutes.. it was basically the greeting I had always wanted, so this is what being a criminal gets you! Of course, we quickly discovered the musical pagentry was not for us but rather the Grand Duke! Yes, somehow we had stumbled upon a royal event. The band trumpeted their way through the small streets as we followed closely behind and found ourselves with a small gathering of people surrounding a red carpet in front of the city's palatial residence.

Now that we committed a crime in Luxembourg AND spotted the Grand Duke it was most certainly time for a drink. I have yet to mentioned how beautiful the weather was in Luxembourg. So beautiful in fact, that I began to worry about a sunburn. This worry, however, did not stop the two most fairly skinned people in the World from taking a place at a cafe table in a large plaza square. Basking in the sun and sipping some delicious Luxembourg beverages was absolutely wonderful and to be honest I could have stayed in the small square all day. But, there was still so much to see and do in the small city and the scheduling master had already looked at his watch 15 times, our drink break was over. This time we wandered out of the city centre and took in the sights of the lower Luxembourg. This part of the city was so beautiful and the views from above looking down were absolutely breathtaking.

Feeling like experienced crypt explorers from our time in Paris the Luxembourg crypts seemed quite appealing. The city's crypts were much larger than those we saw in Paris. There was more area to explore and the terrain was a bit more rugged. In fact, while traversing the uneven rock surfaces and climbing behind a cannon I claimed to feel like Indiana Jones. To which my side kick promptly stated "oh yeah because Indiana Jones had all these halogen lamps around to help him see." It was at this precise moment that my side kick slammed his head against the top of the crypt. Clutching his wounded skull and making grimaces of pain it was decided  that in the face of injury we would prevail and continue on down the spiral staircase of death. While the injured party had no problems conquering the staircase I clung to the railing in fear as I slowly inched my way to the bottom all the while envisioning a slip that would certainly lead to death. (I have a small fear of narrow, steep staircases.. especially if they are spiral... especially if I am wearing boots). Needless to say, our crypt skills might not be quite par with Indiana.

 After our crypt voyage a quick lunch was had and then we made our way down to the lower part of Luxembourg. The small winding rivers, jagged rocks, lush gardens and softly paddling ducks certainly made for a tranquil stroll. It was the perfect way to end the day in Luxembourg before making the steep climb back to our hotel, grabbing our bags and catching the next train to Brussels.

Next Stop: Belgium!